Enrile Makes a Move

The Philippines has had more than enough political turmoil in recent years, but now it is threatened with more. Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile is openly questioning the legitimacy of Corazon Aquino’s presidency, arguing that despite her popular election earlier this year she is obligated to seek reapproval from the voters. Enrile’s curious argument is that after Aquino won office, in an election that deposed president Ferdinand E. Marcos tried flagrantly to steal, she “forfeited” her mandate by abolishing the 1973 constitution under which the election was held. If Enrile really believe that then, of course, he should do the decent thing and resign, rather than continuing to serve in a government that he contends is without legal foundation.

That seems an unlikely step, since Enrile’s power comes from the control he has over the armed forces. Enrile had to do some fast-stepping to hold on to that power, abandoning his longtime loyalty to Marcos to join the pro-Aquino forces last February. Give credit where it’s due: If Enrile and Gen. Fidel Ramos, now the chief of staff, hadn’t defected from Marcos the “people power” revolution that erupted after the disputed election probably would have been suppressed. But Enrile’s defection was hardly selfless. As he indicated at the time, he turned his coat because he thought Marcos had plans to arrest him.

Enrile’s own presidential ambitions have long been obvious. But if Aquino serves out the six-year term that the constitutional revision commission proposes for her Enrile will be 68 by the time the next presidential election, and other strong candidates could meanwhile emerge.

And so Enrile is likely to go on sniping at Aquino’s authority, to the detriment of his country’s political stability and nascent democracy. It would not be out of line for friends of the Philippines, the United States chief among them, to quietly let Enrile know that his efforts are unappreciated. And certainly it would not be amiss for Enrile to quit the government whose legitimacy, he claims, has been lost.